Cons:

The Silent Hill series has long been known as a terrifying yet quirky franchise, and it's also always been created by Japanese developers. Consequently, trepidation among the fans in regards to Silent Hill: Homecoming's new Western development team is understandable, but not altogether warranted. While the early stages of the game can be frustrating thanks to a fairly clunky combat system and seemingly cliche plotline, the latter portions mark a shocking about-face, delivering the kinds of twists and frights that have made the series so popular. Developer Double Helix definitely had a tough row to hoe, but you'll likely find that persistence in the face of questionable design choices early in the game pays off if you see Silent Hill: Homecoming through to any of its multiple endings.

Tone it Down

Immediately recognizable as soon as you begin Silent Hill: Homecoming is the near-perfect replication of the series' mood. Grainy filters slathering the camera with a gritty patina reminiscent of television static serve to provide a muted, dirty quality to the visuals. Similarly, the lighting advancements of the HD era are put to good use throughout Homecoming. Between atmospheric environmental lighting and the real-time shadows created by your flashlight you get a sense of creepy things moving just beyond your peripheral vision. Shadows cast by your flashlight have an eerie way of jittering and bouncing, enhancing the unsettling mood.

Silent Hill: Homecoming looks fantastic, and the disturbing locales of Shepherd's Glen are rendered brilliantly. Copious fog effects obscure faraway enemies but also your own presence, so they can be used as a tool for avoiding danger, making the fog as useful as it is visually appealing. Some of the early environments seem to labor under the strain of crushing cliche status (we've seen plenty of filthy hospitals and shadowy cemeteries in film and games, so those tend to seem like cheap tropes for establishing fear) despite their visual fidelity, but the more bizarre settings of the infamous nightmare dimension do not suffer from this issue.

The Plod Thickens

What is most odd about Silent Hill: Homecoming is that it sucks for a few hours and doesn't actually get around to being a good game until approximately mid-way through. Until the point at which you (extremely minor spoiler warning -- it's for a good reason, so just keep reading) leave Shepherd's Glen and enter Silent Hill itself, the plot comes off as trite and formulaic and the sludgy combat system feels like a frustrating obstacle. Yet, once Homecoming finally gets going its unique approach to the classic themes of the series and genuinely shocking plot twists begin to overshadow the quarrelsome combat.

It is a lot to ask of any gamer to trudge through roughly three hours of substandard gameplay in order to get the truly exciting and entertaining stuff, but the latter segments of Homecoming are worth it, especially for long-time fans of the series.